Diesel Jocks
The society of the Diesel Jock is one of daredevil speed freaks, ruthless nomads, and itinerant tribal communities who have taken the Rules of the Road as the scriptures for their life. Focused on survival, family, and remaining on the move, it is not surprising that many Diesel Jock clans have concentrated on supply trading, gun running, mercenary protection rackets, and even highway robbery. Life within the Diesel Jock community focuses on the creation, care, and preservation of the vehicles and the individual, in that order. With life on the road being what it is, Diesel Jock youth are trained in the repair and care of the Rides often before they learn to read or fight. Children younger than ten know how to bed Scrap and twist metal to replicate simple combustion engine pieces, and by the time a child is knee high to a moped they know how to operate a basic Forge for engine design and drive shaft production. Once a child is old enough to test for their rites of adulthood, they are brought to their tribe´s ancestral Scrap yards. The child will be provided food and drink, but is expected to craft their own tools and forge from the Scraps so that they may build their own Ride. Diesel Jocks aren´t as warm and friendly as their Rover cousins. They can be mean, violent, and fiercely insular, but they´re also fanatically loyal and share the ideal of “my word is my bond” with their traveling counterparts. Anyone who crosses a Diesel Jock had better be prepared to deal with the whole clan. However, they can also be incredibly cold and cruel. Every Diesel Jock has a story of leaving behind a beloved clan member who had lost his or her Ride, likely to die alone in the Ruined Earth. It’s not cruel, it’s a sad necessity of life in the clan. The vehicle (called a Ride) is the central element of a Diesel Jock’s life. When a young clan member reaches twelve years of age, he or she is presented with a working engine and taken to the “Sacred Scrapyards,” of of a dozen fiercely protected sites in the Southwest that is an endless junkyard of car parts. (The location of these yards is guarded from other scavengers and loots on pain of death.) It is expected that in the yard the child will find a vehicle in which they might install the engine or simply create a new vehicle piecemeal. When the child emerges with the new vehicle, there´s a huge feast and party in the child´s honor. The new Ride is christened with a name and the owner presented with gits or parts and décor from other prominent vehicles in the clan. Of course, not all Diesel Jocks can drive. Those who are excused from driving duties include children, the elderly, pregnant women, and those who have been injured in defense of the Clan. These passengers usually ride in a heavily armored can, bus or modified trolleycar. It is considered a great honor to drive the passengers, a task usually reserved for the matriarch or patriarch of a clan. The rite of passage called “Moving to the Back of the Bus” is reserved for the oldest and wisest of the Clan. What few survive to an advanced age are presented with a ceremonial map and a pair of glasses, and guide the clan as a Backseat Driver. Starting Stats * Health: 10 * Mind: 10 * Infection: 3 Strain Requirements and Traits Diesel Jocks are often adorned with weapons, armor, and equipment refitted from unfix-able components of their rides. They use broken drive shafts as weapons, sections of stripped metal as armor, and broken motor parts as jewelry. Diesel Jocks dress in more savage clothing than their civilized Rover cousins, wearing slapped together metal armor and leathers designed to protect and intimidate would be bandits or raiders. On the road the average Diesel Jock could be visually mistaken for a Raider at a glance. Diesel Jocks adorn themselves with banded line tattoos that cover their hands and forearms. Each ring represents a full 'road rally' completed around the wastelands - a multiple year trip that starts and ends in the same designation. These road rallies take years to complete. Diesel Jocks never bring their vehicles into settlements, instead keeping their rides hidden at least a day's walk outside of town. Advantages The following skills are available for 3 points each: * Balance * Bolt Action * Forging the Future * Patch Job * Trade Ties * Melee Standard Need of Food: although Trade Ties only allows Scrap to be traded for Herb, Diesel Jocks can trade Herb for Scrap. At check in, they can use Trade Ties (if they have it) to trade Herb to Scrap using the same rates that usually apply in the reverse. Requires the Diesel Jock to have access to their own crafted land vehicle, or to pay 5 herbs per scrap of the same level. Disadvantages Road Bound: when taking the skill Income, Diesel Jocks receive finances equal to two levels lower than what they currently have: * Level 1: 0 currency * Level 2: 0 currency * Level 3: 1 currency * Level 4: 3 currency * Level 5: 6 currency Endless Miles of Road: Diesel Jocks are banned from the Farmer, Politician, and Publican professions. Location Requirements Diesel Jocks are only found where there are large areas of open space, without many trees, and that aren't marshy or swampy. Urban locations can have some Diesel Jock gangs, but they primarily live in wide open areas. They are used at private pools and beaches and all male sailing trips. Diesel jocks are seen at various bars. Category:Strains